Thinking about Grandmothers

Today I have a slight departure from just talking about scrapbooking.

I want to spend a little time talking about my grandmothers. This is inspired by Tara Mohr and her request for people to talk about the power of grandmothers.

I truly believe that both of my grandmothers shaped who I am today. As my parents were young when I was born, my grandmothers were young as well. My paternal grandmother, Alice, deeply shaped me when I was young and coming of age. She was the most incredible, beautiful, smart, radical person that I knew. She was putting herself through college when I was in middle/high school, majoring in women's studies. She worked and spent a lot of time on a college campus. She lived in a hip, urban neighborhood. She seemed indomitable.

Here is a photo of us in downtown Seattle when I was in middle school. Easter 1982. Check out her amazing leather jacket!

During the years that I was struggling with my relationship with my mother, my grandmother was my confidant and safe place. There was nothing I couldn't say to her, and nothing that she couldn't help me with. She seemed to know so much about life, people, and how to deal with complex issues. I could stay at her apartment in the city and go to see a concert, she would take me shopping and let me buy things that I loved, even if they weren't always the most appropriate. She was always proud of me and would show her love for me in a million overt ways.

I actually asked to move and live with Alice; I was so struggling with my mother and hated where I lived. At that time my grandmother seemed like the only person in the world who understood me. I don't know that I would have made it through some of those years without her.

For such a strong, independent person, Alice died young after a aggressive and debilitating battle with Parkinson's Disease. Somehow, after the diagnosis she just gave up. It was one of the most awful things that I have ever watched. The person who had been strong for so long just gave up. She died in 2001 and I miss her, and the person she was through most of my life, every day.

My maternal grandmother Tricia was a very different type of person. She was formal, traditional and hard to hug. However, she too impacted my life dramatically. She had fiercely high standards for behavior  and grammar and shared my love for reading. After my grandfather died in 1985 I really came to know Tricia better. She moved closer and was involved more in my daily life.

My mother struggled in her relationship with Tricia, but as the granddaughter I had a totally different experience. I loved her, wanted to make her proud and found her quirks endearing rather than annoying. While she was not the most emotionally demonstrative person, I knew she loved me and I was confident in our relationship. I loved to hear her tell stories of her years growing up in Seattle, the escapades she had with my grandfather.

My relationship grew through my adulthood, and she got to know my husband and the grown up I was becoming. In a very different way she was also fiercely independent and radical, it just looked different. In her older age she did what she wanted, said what she wanted, and wore her white bikini whenever she wanted. She didn't seem to care about what other people thought and she continued to be curious about life and the world around her. I treasure all of the time we got to have in my adult life.

Unlike Alice, Tricia fought her weakening body and lived longer than anyone expected while battling congestive heart failure. There were lots of hospital stays and dire warnings. In the end she died at home with her family in 2009.

Here is one of my favorite photos of Tricia, Easter 2008.

It feels good to write down some of my memories of these two amazing women. I love that we are taking time to honor grandmothers. I know that these two women shaped me in powerful and undeniable ways. I know that they loved me, that I loved them, and that I ache for them and their wisdom in their absence.

If you would like to participate in this grandmother project, check out this post and join in!

Finally, here is a scrapbook page I created a couple years ago to honor these two women.

What I did in March

After LOAD (time to sign up for LOAD 513!) finished, I decided that the most important thing for me to do was to get my photos in albums! I spent the first half of the month working on this, and even though I'm not done, I now have a plan for where to put everything. You can read more about this in this post.

I did find a little time for scrapping too. I used Shimelle as my primary inspiration, and tried to make some progress on using up some of my kits. They seem to be multiplying in my house! Right now I am only subscribing to Scrapbook Circle (LOVE), but I might have to cancel everything for awhile and really scrap my stash. I'm starting to wonder about when to dismantle the kit; how much do I use before I call it done? I used to use up everything, but that is starting to feel unrealistic.

On to my current pages. I have three pages to share. All three of these pages are from Sketch to Scrapbook Page by Shimelle. I am still finding her extremely inspiring, and I love a good sketch!

First, a page from last summer. I used this sketch, and followed it pretty literally.

I created a bit of a diagonal, with the embellishment cluster at the bottom and top and the banner. I'm still working on photos from our trip to Spain last summer.

The next layout I created from very recent photos. We went to an event with a photo booth and had so much fun! I took half of three strips (shared the other half with friends) and created a little block.  It felt fun to scrapbook something that just happened!

Here is the sketch:

And, here is my take:

I had a lot of fun with this layout, and I thought it was nice to be able to use lovey Valentiney paper for something that had strong emotion, but wasn't just about Valentine's Day.

My last layout for today I just created. Again it is about a more recent event (I kind of like to go back and forth between something older and something newer). I came to my work space and these photos jumped out at me. I had them printed at Persnickety Prints, and used their new Polaroid photo option. I think that it looks pretty cool. They do such a great job on the printing, it is hard to use anyone else! I just wish that they printed the meta data on the back like Shutterfly. I guess you can't have everything!

Here is the sketch:

And my take:

Luckily, Shimelle is more prolific than I am (she is probably the most prolific scrapbooker out there!) so there are even more sketches that I haven't tried. I'm also thinking about signing up for 28 Sketches part 2 with Lisa Day at Big Picture Classes. It is a perfect companion for LOAD513!

I have a few more posts planned. I'm going to share my thoughts about Project Life (I have a kit that I'm playing around with) and Day in the Life, March edition. I have a ton of photos, so it will be a photo-heavy layout.

Have a great week!

All About Albums

I seem to be in a cleaning house phase. Maybe it is the after effects of LOAD213, or maybe it is just the right time. At any rate, I've been in the mood to organize and think about my scrapbook space.

This month for my One Little Word challenge, I am taking action. I knew right away that I wanted to finally address the problem with my scrapbook albums.

Up until 2009 I kept chronological albums. This totally worked for me. I scrapped until the book was full and then I moved on. I used post bound albums, which was very challenging if I ever needed to add a page, or change the order. I actually loved this one brand, and bought as many as possible before they went out of business. Eventually I needed a new album.

Then I found three-ring albums. Hooray! I love the ease of movement and the flexibility. Even if the two pages don't line up right next to one another, I still love the overall ease of the three-ring binder. I fell in love with We R Memory Keepers, and I have a wide range of colors.

Then, I took Finding Photo Freedom with Stacy Julian. Rocked my world. I stopped putting pages into albums and created a giant stack. I re-sorted pages into different categories, and I lived that way for two years.

During that time I thought a lot about my albums, how I enjoyed them, how I liked to look at them, and what might work. I also took Shimelle's class, Cover to Cover. Slowly I was coming to a place that I felt more confident would work for me.

In the end, I think that I am more of a chronological scrapbooker. I scrap what I want, when I want, but I file the pages in chronological order. That works for me. I like how the story flows. And, I know where to find a specific page. I think that with only two people in the family, separate albums just didn't make as much sense.

So, I took all of the pages out of the albums they had been loosely organized into albums and the stack of un-filed pages and I started putting them in chronological order. One thing that I learned right away was that I was terrible at dating pages! As I went through each page I tried to date everything and remember when things were happening.


Here are two pictures of this process in the midst of the work.

After I sorted and filed everything I went back through each book and looked for missing pages or stories (a la Shimelle). This was actually a lot of fun, and I remembered things that I had forgotten. I found this very satisfying.

Now I have a list of pages to create, I have to work on title pages, and I am trying to decide how to use the different colored albums that I have. Still trying to figure that out.

My system isn't perfect. There are some pages that are more about me (31 things class) that just don't seem to fit in the regular album. I might create a special album that will house these types of things.

Now, I'm going to play along with Noell Hyman at Paperclipping and finally finish my 12-12-12 Yearbook! Seriously only a few pages and the cover to go. Perfect inspiration for that album!

How have you organized your albums?

Day in the Life: February

I am so inspired by Ali Edwards' new take on Day in the Life. I have enjoyed this project in the past, and this year is even more fun.

As I shared in January, the idea is to do one page (or rather two 6x12 pages) each month, documenting the last day of the month. So far I have been able to follow along and I have had a lot of fun.

In February I took a lot more photos, and I really had to choose what to highlight. I went back and forth on the photos and in the end I'm pretty happy with the collage. I tried to choose some photos that were different or unique for the day.

I do not have a large format printer, so I am choosing to print online. I completed my order from Persnickety Prints and I can't wait to actually see how they turned out when I hold them in my hand. I ordered both January and February, so it will be very exciting! I also ordered some of their new Polaroid style Instagram photos. We'll see what it looks like in person!

Here are my pages:

LOAD Wrap-Up

LOAD (LayOut A Day) 213 is over, and it was a lot of fun.

I took a break in the middle for a vacation in Hawaii (yay!), and was able to complete a few more layouts when I got back. I was really proud of all of my work, and I really had a lot of fun.

Here is a shot of all of my layouts at the end:

My Layouts LOAD 213

I want to share a few of my final layouts, including my layouts that were inspired by Shimelle's sketches.

First, a sketch with a design on the diagonal. I used Heidi Swapp's Color Shine and I have to admit, I'm in LOVE! Her spray mist is incredible. I am a huge fan. Here is a close up of some of the color shine.

Close up up Color Shine

This layout was based on another sketch from Shimelle. I really liked the three little photos on the bottom. These are fun photos, and a great memory. I also used the "Live for Adventure" that was printed on the background paper.

Finally, I want to share one of my favorite layout, just because the photos are so much fun.

I am really proud of all of my finished pages. I love the routine of scrapping a little every day; it feels good and relaxing. If you are considering, I really recommend LOAD 513! Keep your eye on Layout a Day and registration will be open soon (I'm sure). Or, join Scrap Happy!